Today I read Genesis 46 where Jacob and his entire family come to Egypt to dwell. The scriptures make it sound like Jacob did not wish to come at first. It reads that Jacob had a vision of the Lord and only after the vision did he go down to Egypt. And in that vision the Lord told him not to fear to go down to Egypt. It sounds to me like perhaps his sons had not made it back yet to tell him Joseph was alive. I imagine if he knew Joseph was alive, nothing could have kept him away from Egypt.
The rest of this chapter is about the generations of Joseph and his sons. In short there are seventy of them that came down to Egypt. Joseph makes some interesting comments to his father about how the Egyptians don't like shepherds. I thought that was very interesting but it's true that some cultures revere different things than others. Still though, I would have thought that since all cultures, just about, eat meat, a shepherd would be looked at as a necessary skill. But it seems, based on Joseph's statement that the Egyptians looked upon it as a necessary, but intolerable, evil.
I love this chapter though because of Jacob and Joseph seeing each other for the first time. What a meeting that must have been! To finally see each other for the first time after 20 plus years! I can only imagine the emotions that must have come bubbling out of both of them. If there ever was a place in the Bible where someone passes out for joy like Ammon does in the Book of Mormon, it would be Jacob and Joseph's meeting I think. I can't even imagine it. I mean, thinking that your son or daughter is dead for twenty years only to find out that not only are they alive and well, but the ruler or the most powerful nation on Earth! Hard to imagine in this day and age of technology but in the days of Jacob and Joseph it is completely believable and I can't even begin to imagine the joy Jacob must have felt.
And so the Israelites came to Egypt and would not leave for several hundred years. The story of Joseph is almost done but it is perhaps one of the most amazing in the entire Bible. I think what makes Joseph's story so singular is not just because it's the only one of its kind, but more that it is very, very clear that God's hand was in his life from the time he was sold into slavery. God takes an active role in all our lives, I firmly believe this, but most of the time He does it in such a way that it is unobtrusive and might even be overlooked. Not in Joseph's life. There is no denying that God had a hand in it and watched over him for those many years. But, even though we may not see His hand in our own lives, we can be sure that God is there, watching out for us, and He knows us. Sometimes He may have to step in and you will see that when it happens if you watch for it. I know He has literally saved my life on more than one occasion because there was literally no other explanation for what happened. But I have also seen His hand in my life as I care for my family, especially my daughter.
I hope you have seen His hand in your own lives and if you haven't, look for it, and you'll see it. We are never alone because God has our back. Until tomorrow.
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